Here to Help
by Peter Smith
Summary: The latest installment in my point-of-view stories. In "Here to Help", Teresa the White Ranger takes the lead, as she fights alien terrorists on the loose in the city, and battles to help a troubled classmate. Enjoy!


Here's the next installment of my series of one-shots, giving each of the Rangers a chance to tell a story from their own perspective. This story is told from the perspective of Teresa, the White Ranger. I confess that Teresa is just about my favourite character, and when you get to the end of this one, you'll see why :). "Here to Help" takes place four years after the events of "The New Team", so the Junior Team are in the 11th grade, while the Senior Team are in their second year of college. Enjoy :).

* * *

><p><strong>Here to Help<strong>

When I was a little girl, one winter there was a bad flu epidemic. My mother is a nurse at the local hospital, and she spent long fourteen-hour days tending to all her patients. She came home one night totally exhausted, and I remember asking her why she couldn't just take a day off and leave it to the other nurses. And she answered by saying, "I _have_ to help, Teresa. It's what we're here to do."

Years later, my twin brother Scott and I were inadvertently caught in the middle of a war one day. Teleported safely into an amazing secret base, a kindly old wizard with a knack for seeing things in people they didn't see themselves gave us the opportunity to join a team of superheroes, with access to amazing powers and unbelievable weapons. Scott and I turned to each other, and instinctively knew that we were both going to say "yes". But in the back of my mind, I was thinking about what my mother had said, and that resolute sense of purpose she'd had. So this was _my_ turn to help, what _I_ was here to do. And I never looked back.

People get the wrong idea about us, though. Sure, most of the time it's violence and monsters, and wars waged on alien worlds. But that's not all we do. A week ago, we had to evacuate low-lying islands in the Caribbean in the face of an approaching hurricane. Last month, we tracked a decommissioned Soviet satellite as it fell, to make sure it landed safely in the desert. One of our first missions was getting help to a small village deep in the Middle East that had been destroyed by an earthquake. The events of that night stayed with me for a long time afterwards. But that's the job. When the call comes, you answer it.

So I couldn't help wondering, as I left school that afternoon, what adventures lay in wait for us _this_ week.

It was a cold and grey Monday afternoon. Heavy rain hadn't stopped falling for days, and forecasts were predicting it to continue long into next week. The ground was sodden, the dirt long since becoming mud, and I followed the path carefully out through the school towards the front gate. I'd had to stay back, working on an assignment in the library, and by now the school was empty. Reaching the admin block at the front of the school, I hung back under the patio, waiting for a break in the deluge.

But glancing over to the nearby arts block, I noticed a boy my age sitting against the wall with his knees against his chest, trying in vain to stay dry. It was an impossible task. His blue uniform was saturated, and his dark, wavy hair was plastered against his head. His name was Brody Graves. He was in my homeroom and my art class, although we'd never spoken. In fact I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't really know him at all. But shivering in the wet, my heart went out to him. He looked like the loneliest person in the world.

Braving the rain, I jogged over towards him. "Brody, hi!" I called, but frowned as my shoe sank into a puddle. "Isn't it just awful today?"

He turned to me as I sought shelter under the awning beside him. For half a second, I saw something in his eyes that seemed desperately sad. But just as quickly it was gone, and he looked away with a deliberate air of total disinterest.

It wasn't the response I was expecting, so I rallied and tried again. "We're both in Mrs Porter's art class, you sit behind Sarah," I continued. "How are you going with that art history assignment? I just can't get into it."

He shrugged. "I'm going all right," he murmured, his teeth chattering.

"Hey, I'm just gonna ask, is everything okay with you?"

"I'm fine," he grunted.

Which I'd always thought was the universal code of people who were the exact opposite. I sat down beside him. "Are you sure? I've never seen you here so late. Are you waiting for your family? Do you want some company?"

He spun to face me, and I could see in his face that I'd pushed too far. "I said I'm fine," he shot back. "Do you need something?"

Stung by his tone, I jumped to my feet. "At least let me wait with you?" I offered. "I've got an umbrella in my backpack…"

"I was managing fine without you," he replied.

He looked away, done with the conversation, and I didn't see much point in trying again. Above us, the rain had softened to a light drizzle. Deciding to cut my losses, I pulled the umbrella from my bag and left the school.

* * *

><p>"Question," I began, as Scott and I made our way home from school the next evening. It wasn't raining, but dark, heavy clouds hung low in the sky. "Do you know Brody Graves?"<p>

Scott has the same green eyes and dark curly hair as me. He sees our lives as Power Rangers as one great adventure, and meets every day with boundless curiosity. He has this incredible drive to learn everything he can about the world around him. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met, and given some of our team-mates, that's saying something.

"Brody Graves?" he repeated.

"About so high. Dark hair. He's in art with Sarah and me."

"Oh yeah, Brody," he said. "I have history with him. But he hasn't been showing up the last couple of weeks. That's probably why he's always in detention these days. Why do you ask?"

"I had a run-in with him yesterday afternoon," I replied, shifting my backpack from my left shoulder to my right. "I tried to talk to him and he bit my head off."

"I'd believe that," Scott replied. "A couple of us offered to help him catch up in history, and he almost punched us. I know he got in trouble for throwing a book at a teacher last week."

"He's obviously having a rough time with something," I said, as we strolled past the western entrance to the city park. Wide green lawns stretched back into the evening shadows behind the fence. "But why the attitude?"

"Maybe he's just…" but Scott's voice trailed off. "Hey, check that out."

I turned to see what had caught his attention, and despite the steadily-lengthening shadows, immediately spotted it. A short distance into the park, three figures were crouched around an odd metallic device sitting on the grass. The three men all looked to be in their mid-twenties, wearing oddly-coloured tunics and thick leather boots. Tools, small capsules and weapons were strapped to their belts. One of the men had a long, braided ponytail. The second had scruffy blond curls, while the third was wearing a visor with a magnifying glass attached. As Scott and I watched, the third man got up and walked across the grass to position a second device a short distance away from the first.

"What are they doing?" Scott wondered aloud.

"Let's check it out," I said.

Dropping our backpacks, we stepped over the chain-link fence and cautiously approached. The rain was coming again, but we were alert and focussed. After four years, Ranger instincts tended to kick in _fast_. As we approached, the blond man saw us and signalled to his companion. They turned to greet us.

"Please leave us," the first man called. His English was stilted, but understandable.

"You're not from around here," Scott said, nodding to their outfits. "Who are you? Where are you from?"

The two men stopped a few metres away, blocking our path. "This does not concern you," Ponytail said tersely.

Blond folded his arms across his chest. "Move on."

"Not until you tell us what you're doing," I said.

Behind them, the first device suddenly began blinking, the flashing lights seemingly counting backwards. Scott's face fell. "Um, sis?" he began. "Is it me or is that thing _ticking_?"

I glanced to the device on the grass, knowing Scott was thinking what I was. "They're bombs," I said. "Go!"

Hearts pounding, we raced away from each other, sprinting across the slippery grass towards the blinking devices. The blond guard reacted quickly, lashing out as Scott approached. Scott dived under the man's fist and rolled to his feet. Lumbering forward, the man grabbed at Scott's sleeve. But it was wet from the rain, and Scott spun around on the spot, sliding the man's hand off and striking it away. Blond struck back, aiming high, but Scott was faster than he thought, blocking the blow, striking away a second and aiming a chop for the man's neck, forcing him to retreat.

A few metres away, Ponytail held his ground, raising his arms as I closed in. Waiting until I was within range, he struck out with a powerful right hook. I ducked under his fist, dodged a second blow and batted away a third. He turned on his heel with a spin kick, but I spun under the blow, aiming my own heel for his jaw. He ducked back out of range, and finding my feet, I leaped forward, kicking high. He struck the blows away, turned and charged towards me. But using the wet grass to my advantage, I dropped low, grabbed his chest and used his own momentum to throw him off his feet.

He crashed to the ground, sliding along the grass and rolling over one of the devices. It shattered with a sharp 'crack', leaving pieces of debris spread out over the ground.

"No!" the scientist cried, still working on the second device. "You broke it!"

Ponytail climbed to his feet, a look of horror creeping across his face. Blond raced over to join him as Scientist leaped to his feet, holding the second device close to his chest. Ponytail reached down and grabbed at one of the pieces near his feet, while Scott and I regrouped and wiped the rain from our eyes.

The three men backed away fearfully. "We have to go!" Ponytail cried, pointing over to the school and the forest reserve beyond. "Run!"

"No!" I shouted. But even as they raced away from us, the heavens opened, and I lost sight of them in the sudden blinding downpour. I was immediately soaked to the skin. I glanced back to my brother but could barely see him through the haze, and he was only two metres away. Whoever they were, there was no hope of tracking them through this.

"It's no good," I said, over the noise of the rain. "We lost them."

Scott nodded, and knelt down in the mud. "But they lost something too," and he held up a large piece of the broken device that Ponytail had missed. "Let's get this back to the Command Centre, and see what Alpha and Zordon can make of it."

* * *

><p>The Rangers' secret base is high on a desert mountain in the middle of the Australian outback. Our mentor Zordon resides in an energy tube in the Central Chamber. Ancient and impossibly wise, Zordon dispenses battle strategy and life advice with equal ease. He has a dozen plans for every eventuality, and I've always suspected that Zordon is a lot cannier than any of us realised.<p>

Zordon is helped by a sentient robot named Alpha 5. Alpha can be a little excitable sometimes, but he's pretty amazing all the same. Not only does he work the computers, but he can bandage wounds and brew a mean kettle of tea. Once Scott and I were dry and warmed up, we told them everything that had happened in the city park.

"…which is when they turned and ran," Scott finished. "We would've followed them, but with the rain, it was impossible."

I held up the sketch I'd hastily drawn. "Here's what my guy looked like," I said, as Zordon peered down from his vantage point high above the room. "I didn't recognise his clothes."

"I'm afraid I don't either," Zordon replied. "But we'll run your descriptions through the archives, and see if there are any matches. I'm glad you're all right, Rangers. You were very lucky."

"I'll say," came a voice, and Trini and Zac stepped into the room behind us. "We were in the training room, we heard what happened," Trini continued. "Are you sure you're both okay?"

Trini and Zac were the Yellow and Black Rangers respectively. Four years older than Scott and I, they were both in their second year at college. I'd always looked up to Trini. Not only was she a brilliant fighter, but she was kind and amazingly smart. Trini had looked after us new Rangers in the early days, and I'd never forgotten it. As for Zac, well, he and I had always been polar opposites. But we'd never seriously butted heads like some of the others. It had always been more of a friendly back-and-forth. And I'd be lying if I said that Zac hadn't taught me a lot about enjoying life.

"No, we're fine," I replied. "I'm just angry they escaped."

"So are we thinking saboteurs?" Scott asked, glancing around the group. "Alien terrorists? The Rangers have more than a few enemies scattered around the galaxy. Most of them know we're from Earth. And planting a bomb without making any demands can't have been a random attack."

"They definitely had a set goal in mind," agreed Zordon

"And the scary part is how they got away," I added. "Back through the school to the forest reserve?"

Trini nodded. "Even without the downpour, tracking them would've been difficult. Which means they've been here a while, and know their way around."

"So next question," Zac began. "Do we have any clues who they are, and where we can find them to start punching?"

"Their English wasn't too bad, although I didn't recognise their accents," Scott said. "But their tech was definitely alien. Maybe they were from the future, or an alternate reality?"

"There are plenty of planets that were settled by English-speaking colonists," Alpha said. "The only thing we can do is to keep scanning the broken bomb piece you managed to retrieve," and he pointed to the device, sitting on the counter. Its lights were smashed, and several wires were hanging loose.

Scott turned to Trini. "Pity Billy's off-world right now," he said. "He'd get a kick out of this one. How's he going?"

"From his last transmission, good," Trini replied. "He and Tommy are close to finding a cure for the Slindarian techno-plague. They should be home by the weekend. Hopefully they won't need any more supplies," she added. "It takes a _lot _of power to teleport a lot of gear across half the galaxy. We'd have to shut down the scan, and I really want to know who those three guys were. We could always just open a portal, but you never know what could be on the other side."

"There's nothing more we can do tonight Rangers," Zordon said. "Feel free to return to your homes. Alpha and I will keep an eye on the city."

We all said good night. But just before Trini reached for her communicator, I stepped back to her.

"Before you go," I said, thinking of yesterday. "Do you know a Graves family at all? They've got a son, Brody. He's in the same grade as Scott and I."

Trini thought for a second. "I think I share a politic science tutorial with one of his older sisters," she replied. "They seem like a nice family. Parents are together, and they both work. There's a few brothers and sisters, but as far as I know, nobody's been in any real trouble. They're always very busy, though. I get the impression they don't spend a lot of time with each other. Why do you ask?"

I frowned. Maybe I had misread it, and Brody was just having an off afternoon? "No reason," I said. "Thanks." Trini smiled, and we reached for our communicators and teleported home.

* * *

><p>The next morning in the Youth Centre, Scott and I told the rest of the team what had happened the night before, and everybody promised to keep an eye out. But we figured that, with their bomb confiscated and their targets aware of their presence, it would be a while before the three men resurfaced. As it was, for the next couple of days, the city stayed mercifully quiet.<p>

Thursday night, I'd had to do some research for my art history assignment in the town library. It was well after sunset before I finished and made my way back into town. There was plenty of time before the next bus arrived, so I walked around to a nearby café, sitting on a corner under a towering skyscraper. The café had the best hot chocolate in the city. After the last few days, I felt like I needed it.

I'd just stepped inside when the rain started again, heavy, cold and driven by a howling wind. The café was dark and empty, and I slid into one of the booths, watching as sheets of rain beat down against the glass outside. It wasn't too long before the waitress brought my chocolate over. They'd given me an extra marshmallow, and I took my time to enjoy it as I slowly leafed through today's edition of the _Suncoast Daily_. I never used to read the paper, but the superhero thing made me want to stay as up-to-date as possible. Aside from local politics, there was a story about an alarming number of electronics stores that had been broken into the last few days. I'd just finished reading when the café door opened, and Brody Graves stepped inside.

Shaking his coat off, he left his umbrella by the door and slunk over to the far corner, choosing a table by the kitchen. I folded the paper up and turned to watch him. He kept his gaze low on his table and rested his head in his hands, his mood in keeping with the weather outside. Whatever was troubling him, it looked a lot heavier than it had been a few days ago.

I chewed my bottom lip. Brody had made his feelings clear on Monday, but he looked so unhappy tonight. And even if I was reading the situation totally wrong, what was the harm in asking, right? Climbing to my feet, I made my way over.

"Hey," I called hopefully.

He looked up, but seeing me, shook his head. "You stalkin' me now?" he asked. From his tone, I knew exactly how successful this was about to be.

I stopped by the table. "Just trying to help," I said. "I know we're not close, but you look really under the weather. I'm worried about you."

"I know that you and your friends live in this world of perpetual sunshine and daisies," he replied. "But some of us have bad days occasionally, and we just deal with them by ourselves."

"Well you don't have to," I said. "I've got nowhere to be tonight."

"Look," he said, and he finally met my gaze. I couldn't tell if it was the rain, but it looked like he'd been crying. "I told you on Monday. Leave me alone."

I sighed and stepped away. I'd fought enough battles to know a hopeless one when I saw it. My second guess must've been closer to the truth, and he'd just bounce back from whatever was dogging him on his own. In any event, he certainly didn't want anyone around him. With that, I returned to my table and finished my drink, telling myself the whole time that there was nothing to worry about.

But after I'd paid for the chocolate, I was just leaving when the waitress stepped out of the kitchen and slipped on the wet tiles. Her tray of cutlery clattered to the floor, a sharp steak knife bouncing off Brody's table, worryingly close to his hand. He recoiled sharply, then hunched back into indifference.

"Sorry about that love," the waitress apologised, reaching for the fallen knife. "I just about took your head off!"

Brody sighed. "Like that'd be a huge loss," he murmured.

I frowned. But with no idea what to say, I left the restaurant.

* * *

><p>The University of the Sunshine Coast was a different place at night, Trini thought, as she waited by the entrance to the student cafeteria with her books safely under a neon-yellow raincoat. Apart from the noise of crickets in the grass, the campus was quiet. Students and lecturers had all gone home for the night. The kangaroos had settled down beside the business faculty, the cavernous lecture theatres were empty, and the faculty offices were dark and quiet. The grassy courtyards were deserted, and the student plazas were silent but for the relentless rain. It was peaceful, if not a little eerie, and the weather certainly didn't help.<p>

The cafeteria doors slid open and Zac stepped outside. He was halfway through a meat pie, with a salad roll in either hand.

"End of day specials in the student café," Zac grinned. "I love Uni."

Trini laughed, and they began making their way out towards the carpark. "I'm surprised they turn over a profit," she said.

Zac mumbled a reply, but it was inaudible through the food and he waited a few seconds before trying again. "Still no sign of those three guys Scott and Teresa ran into?" he asked.

Trini shook her head. "It's Friday night and we haven't seen them since Tuesday," she said. "With any luck, they decided not to try again. But Alpha told me this morning that he'd be finishing his scan of the bomb tonight. That should tell us something."

Zac was about to reply when they heard it over the rain. Glass shattering, somewhere close. Trini held up her hand, and a second later they heard it again.

"That sounds like K block, the IT faculty," Zac said. "Someone's breaking in!"

The two Rangers raced around the lecture theatres and into the tiled plaza in front of the towering IT building. As they approached, they immediately saw that they'd guessed right. Three people were just climbing out of a couple of broken windows beside the student bookshop. One of them was holding coils of wire and bundles of circuit boards under his arms. Trini immediately recognised their tunics from the sketches she'd seen in the Command Centre earlier in the week.

"So much for luck," Zac said. Hearing approaching footsteps, the three men turned towards the Rangers. The blond looked away while the man with the braided ponytail swore alien curses under his breath. But as the scientist quietly edged away, the others stepped forward, ready for a fight.

"You stop the thief," Trini murmured softly. "Whatever he took, we can't let him leave with it. I'll handle these two."

"You got it," said Zac, and dashed away. The two alien warriors watched him go, then turned back to Trini and continued closing in.

Trini looked down to her yellow raincoat and sighed. "Oh, this won't be glamorous," she said.

She dropped her books as the blond man attacked – she blocked a punch, struck his hand away before forcing him back with a blow to the ribs. Ducking under a kick from the man with the ponytail, she batted away a right lunge, slapped away a low kick and sent the man crashing with a rapid strike to his chest. Spinning back to the blond in one smooth motion, she blocked a blow aimed for her stomach and dodged his other fist. By now, the second man had recovered, and the two regrouped and struck back side-by-side. Holding her ground, Trini caught their fists, and while they were off-balance, she dropped low and spun them both off their feet. The men hung in the air for a second before they crashed to the tiles and rolled to a stop in a tangle of bruised limbs.

Across the plaza, the scientist had realised quickly that escaping was his only option. He turned to run but only got a few metres before Zac stepped into his path.

"You interrupted my dinner," the Black Ranger said. "Bad move sparky."

The thief glanced over his shoulder as his two colleagues scrambled to his side. "Catch us then," he spat. Reaching for a capsule attached to his belt, he crunched it between his fingers and threw it to the ground at his feet. A billowing white cloud suddenly erupted, forcing Zac back, the smoke stinging his eyes. With their opponents distracted, the three men took the opportunity to escape, and raced away into the night.

"C'mon, we can catch them," Zac began, and reached for his back pocket. "It's morphin'…"

"Wait!" Trini said, grabbing his arm. Zac froze, and only then did he hear boots splashing through the puddles behind them. Someone studying late must've seen the fight and alerted campus security, and the two Rangers watched as half a dozen guards swarmed around them into the plaza. Trini frowned. By the time she and Zac could find a quiet place to morph, the three thieves would be long gone.

"They went down towards the carpark," she called. The guards nodded, and raced after them.

The two Rangers quietly stepped back to retrieve their fallen books.

"Damn those guys are tricky," Zac said. "We missed them again."

"Not only that," Trini began. "They're obviously rebuilding the device Teresa and Scott confiscated on Tuesday. But if it was a bomb, why not break into the science building or a chemistry storeroom? What do they need computer parts for?"

"To fix their laptops?" Zac shrugged.

"C'mon," Trini said. "We'd better check in."

* * *

><p>Across town, I was sitting in the room I shared with one of my sisters, staring out over the rain-soaked yard and trying to focus on my art history assignment. It was another losing battle in a week filled with far too many of them. I'd managed one paragraph, but my mind kept drifting away, to thoughts of alien terrorists and one Brody Graves, somewhere in the city.<p>

I heard a knock on the door as Mama stepped into the room. I smiled a greeting, and Mama sat down on the bed.

"Everything okay with you?" Mama asked, brushing a strand of hair behind me ear. "You've been quiet this week. I know you've got five brothers and sisters, but I can hear when there's a voice missing."

I smiled. Nobody could've ever accused our family of being too quiet. "School stuff, kind of," I replied, but met my mother's gaze. "How do you help somebody who doesn't want to know you?"

Mama's brow raised. "What do you mean?"

"There's a kid in my art class, and he's in trouble," I explained. "I think. But whenever anyone goes near him, he attacks them and swears he'd rather be left alone."

"And you're sure he's in trouble?"

"Gut feeling," I said. "Although I'm starting to think I'm wasting my time."

"Well, your gut is usually pretty right," Mama replied. "At the hospital we'd just use sedatives, but I suppose that's not an option?" I laughed, and she smiled warmly and continued. "In my experience, people will generally tell you what they want. But it's not always the words they use."

I nodded. "And of course that's maddeningly unhelpful," I said.

"Just a bit," Mama conceded, then leaned over and pressed a soft kiss against my forehead. "You'll figure it out. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go chase one of your brothers," and she stood up and left the room. I'd just turned back to my books when there was another knock, and Scott poked his head around the doorway.

"It's Zac and Trini," he said, and tapped the communicator on his wrist. "They need to see us."

* * *

><p>"Someone must've seen us fighting and called campus security," Trini finished, the four of us standing in front of Zordon's energy tube while Alpha worked on the broken bomb nearby. "We just didn't get the chance to follow them."<p>

"They're obviously trying to rebuild their device," I said. "Did you guys read about all those break-ins at electronic stores ths week?"

"You think that was them?" asked Scott.

I nodded. "I do now."

"But we still don't know what the hell that thing actually is," Zac said.

"Ah! But we know what it isn't," announced Alpha, placing his tools back on the counter. We immediately crowded around him. "We've finished all our scans, and carefully dismantled the device," Alpha continued. "It is most certainly _not_ a bomb."

My face fell. "It's not?"

"It couldn't be," Alpha replied. "We only have half of it, but there's no trace of any kind of explosive residue, or even a triggering system. It was definitely designed to channel large amounts of energy, but beyond that? Aye-yi-yi Rangers. I couldn't tell you. Not without the other half."

"Damn," Scott swore. "Back to square one?"

Behind us, one of the monitors began beeping. We all looked up, but Zordon raised his voice. "It's just an incoming long-range message," he said. "I'm checking it now," and the energy tube went blank for a minute before Zordon's face returned. "It's from Billy and Tommy. They wish to tell us that they're almost finished, but they may need some more supplies."

Trini glanced over to the alien device. "No worries. We finished the scan, so we should have the power to send them what they need tonight."

I glanced around the group, and saw an unreadable expression forming on Scott's face. He was putting something together.

"Power…" he repeated softly. Then his eyes flew wide. "I've got it. That's it! I know what they're doing!"

And at that second, all hell broke loose.

The Command Centre alarm began blaring, lights were flashing, and the computers on all sides started beeping furiously. Alpha spun to the nearest console. "Rangers!" he began. "There are massive power surges throughout the city!"

"What's going on?" shouted Zac.

I turned to Scott. "You said you knew what they were doing?"

He nodded. "It's about power," he replied, fighting to be heard over the noise. "Trini, you said it yourself! It takes a lot of power to teleport a lot of people over a long distance. What if there was only enough power to send those first three spies? But they brought a device with them to open a portal directly?"

I realised what he was saying. "But we interrupted them and broke the device," I said. "So they spent the last few days building another one."

Scott nodded. "We had it wrong," he said quickly. "They weren't interplanetary terrorists; they're the advance guard of an invasion fleet! Those power surges mean they're opening the portal home, and there's an army about to touch down in the centre of the city, right now!"

"Go!" said Zordon. "_Go!_ Teleport into the city, I'll contact the other Rangers! There's no time to lose!"

Without wasting another second, the four of us reached for our communicators and vanished from the room.

* * *

><p>Materialising in the city in four bright flashes of light, we touched down out-of-sight in an alley and raced out onto the street. It was late, and the city looked mostly deserted, the streets and buildings dark and quiet.<p>

I turned to the other Rangers, about to speak when three beams of light shot up into the sky around us. They were so bright that I couldn't look at them for more than a second without hurting my eyes. There was a hum in the air, something electric that made the hair on my arm tingle. We all glanced around wildly, trying to find the three sources. They seemed close, maybe only a few streets away. But as the beams hit the clouds, they began to splinter and fracture, smaller beams arcing across the sky to connect to each another, soon creating a giant, glowing web of energy high above us. And very soon, there was a giant dome-shaped bubble over the centre of the city.

"Forcefield," Trini nodded.

"At least it stopped raining," Zac shrugged.

"They wanted to isolate the city," I said. "To keep us out."

Scott raised his communicator. "I can't reach the Command Centre, or the other Rangers," he said. "We probably still have our zords and weapons, but beyond that, nothing."

Zac reached for his phone. "No signal here either," he said. "We're cut off. It's the four of us to save the world."

"But we'll need help," Trini said. "If there's a full invasion fleet about to touch down, we'll need the others. Taking out that forcefield is our top priority."

"Agreed," Zac said.

"But there's four of us and three beams," Scott asked.

"You guys go," I said. "Those advance scouts were in the park for a reason. I'll go back and make sure they aren't trying again."

"Good plan," Trini said, and glanced around the group. "Okay guys, call if you run into trouble. Let's break!" And we sprinted away from each other.

* * *

><p>The streets were empty as I raced up the hill towards the park. Already safely indoors, everybody must've looked outside, seen the shimmering forcefield high above the city, and realised that now was another night to bunker down and let the town's heroes take care of saving the world.<p>

As I approached the park, I soon saw that my decision had been a good one. Lit by the unnatural glow from the forcefield high above my head, I could see another portal device like the one Scott and I had broken, sitting on the grass just inside the gate. There was nobody else in sight.

I stepped through the gate, and raised my voice. "I know you're here," I called. "I realised something on the way over. If you're smart enough to build a forcefield to keep us out, you're clever enough to activate it by remote control. Which means the other Rangers won't be able to switch it off. So it's you and me."

With that, three dark figures emerged from the shadows. Behind the other two, the scientist was holding a second portal device, the one they'd hastily rebuilt the last couple of days. The other two looked angry, and I saw Ponytail cursing that their plan to isolate the city had failed.

I raised my hands. "I don't want to fight you," I said. "We can resolve this peacefully. This world has protectors, and they will stop you. I'm offering you the chance to deactivate your devices, and go home. It's your call."

"You cannot stop us," Blond murmured, pulling a knife from his belt and closing in. "This world must be ours. Our future must be here!"

I sighed. "Fine," I said, and reached for my back pocket. "Velociraptor!"

There was an explosion of light and power, and when it faded, I was standing before them as the White Ranger. The two warriors froze for a second, but desperation overrode common sense and they charged towards me regardless. But I reached out, caught their foreheads and launched them backwards off their feet. Turning to the scientist, I saw him place the second portal device on the grass. Racing towards him, I tackled him to the ground and sprang back to my feet. But as rolled to a stop, I saw him holding a small control device in his hand with a blinking red button.

With a triumphant smile, he activated the portal.

The air between the two gadgets began to shimmer, and a rift began to tear open, growing wider and taller with every second. There was a great roaring sound and a rush of air, and I retreated back as the fracture continued to grow. The three scouts regrouped, and I glanced to the scientist, still clutching the portal-control device. It was an old maxim of superheroing. When all else fails, break the toys.

But before I got the chance, I felt the ground shake beneath me. A second later, it shook again, then again. Long experience told me that this wasn't an earthquake. They were footsteps.

"Oh no," I said.

With giant strides, a huge four-legged robotic tank suddenly thundered through the portal, shaking the ground with every step and filling the night air with the sounds of gears and pistons. At least three storeys tall, the tank's armoured exterior was bristling with cannons, laser-turrets and rocket launchers. It came to a shuddering, hissing stop a few metres away from me, and I ran my eyes over the front of the vehicle. The cockpit seemed to be protected by a dark, angled windshield, and I couldn't see the pilots. But I shouldn't have been surprised. It's one of the first rules of adventuring. Always expect giant robots. _Always_.

For a long time, nobody moved.

I saw a turret swivel towards me and I took to the air, leaping up onto the closest leg. Unholstering my Blade Blaster, I aimed the laser down to the joints connecting the leg to the body and fired, the blast slicing through metal plating in a blaze of sparks and smoke. A turret on the side of the leg spun to face me, but with my other hand, I smashed my fist into the cannon and instantly destroyed it.

A second turret opened fire a second later, but I was already in the air, leaping across to the tank's roof just beside the rear leg. What looked like a machine gun rose from a hatch behind me, but a blast from my laser sealed it shut. Summoning my Power Whip with a thought, I snapped the weapon back towards another set of laser turrets, catching them and ripping them free, before aiming my blaster back down to the joints of the second leg. Seconds later, I was in the air again, backflipping off the roof of the tank. The world spun around me, and I touched down on the grass, regaining my footing and reholstering my blaster.

Everyone froze in place. Then, with a squeal of metal, _both legs suddenly fell free of the body_, smashing violently to the dirt below. Now unbalanced, the tank began to lean heavily to one side, and I leaped back to safety as the whole thing came crashing down, throwing up a huge pile of dirt and debris as it landed.

The three advance scouts turned from the fallen tank back to me, incredulous.

Catching my breath, I suddenly felt the ground began shaking, and _three more robotic tanks_ emerged from the portal, powering into the park and lining up side-by-side, all weapons firmly trained on me.

"Okay," I said loudly, hoping I'd bought myself just enough time. "I give up. Your friends have giant robots. But here's the thing. _So do mine_."

A flash of lightning struck the ground behind me, while another earth tremor shook the city. I turned to see the Griffin and Black Lion Thunderzords suddenly arrive in a blaze of sparks and smoke, while Scott's Brontozord rose from the depths and lumbered towards the park. Three teleport streaks appeared in the sky as the Rangers shot down towards their zords, and I scrambled out of the way as the mighty metallic beasts charged forward. With a broadside of rockets and laser-fire, the Black Lion forced one of the vehicles back, while Trini smashed the Griffin into the side of a second, taking its legs out from under it and sending it to the ground. The third roared past me on a course straight for Scott's zord, and I watched as cannons rolled down from the sides of the zord, the night soon alive with the sounds of combat and explosions.

I looked back to the portal, wondering what next. All I had to do was get to the devices keeping it open.

But as I approached, the air shimmered again, and two human-sized shapes marched through. They were covered from head-to-toe in body-armour. Their heavy boots sunk into the mud with every step. Helmets protected their faces, with dark lenses covering their eyes, and I could see an arsenal of weaponry strapped to their belts.

At a glance, I knew they weren't more advance scouts. They were soldiers, maybe even assassins. And if they came through first, that meant they were _good_. But I had one thing on my side. They didn't know me. The longer a fight lasts, the more your opponent figures you out. I had one shot, but I had to shut them down _fast_.

They took a second to scan the area, and I was already sprinting towards them. The soldier on the left was shorter. That meant he was lighter and faster than his companion. That gave me a fraction of a second, not much more. I aimed high – he reacted quickly, blocking the move and quickly retaliating. I stepped around a chest-high punch, struck his arm away and forced him back with a rapid blow to the stomach. By now, the other soldier had caught on, and was reaching for a gun strapped to his belt. I kicked high, forcing him back, before spinning on the spot, slamming my heel into his chest and launching him off his feet. In a blur of motion, I spun back to the first soldier as he reached for a sidearm – I grabbed the gun, wrenching it out of his hands and shattering it in my fist. He froze, surprised, and I threw away the destroyed weapon, shattered his visor with a blow to the helmet, and dropped him with a blow to the throat.

One down. I spun back to face the second, but he'd already climbed to his feet, raising a second gun. The blast caught me point-blank and slammed me backwards to the ground. I rolled to my feet and jumped to safety as the air ignited around me. Summoning my whip in midair, I landed and snapped the weapon towards the man's gun. The trailing end of the whip wrapped around the barrel, and I yanked it out of his hands. Racing forward, I smashed the gun with my boot before taking to the air and kicking high. The soldier retreated back as I landed and continued the assault. He blocked a punch and aimed high – I ducked the move, stepped around a low kick and struck away a right hook, before winding him with a blow to the gut and dazing him with an elbow to the helmet. He staggered back, and I grabbed his helmet, dragged him towards me and sent him headfirst to the ground.

He rolled over, panting and disoriented. "Stay down," I warned. "It's over."

But without realising it, we'd been trading blows barely a metre in front of the portal. As I stepped back, I turned around, and blissfully walked clean through the rift.

All sounds from the city stopped, as if somebody had switched off a radio. There wasn't even any wind. My face fell behind my visor as I took in the world these soldiers had come from. I was standing on a hill, with tanks and soldiers spread out before me, all assembled in formation. The sky was blood red, the sun hidden behind clouds of silver and black, and there was a sickly-smelling metallic odour strong in the air. There were no trees or lakes anywhere, just brown dirt as far as the eye could see, with dry channels that may have been rivers a long time ago. In the distance, what looked to be a city lay ruined and destroyed, but it was shrouded in so much smoke and haze that I couldn't be sure.

But sweeping my gaze over the barren landscape, realisation slowly dawned. "I get it," I said aloud.

I stepped back through the portal into the park, wet grass again under my boots. But as I backed away, another man stumbled through, landing ungracefully in the dirt before me. He was almost as round as he was tall, wearing a silver crown and long robes covered in medals and sashes. You do this long enough and you can tell who's in charge by what they're wearing. I knew instantly this man was a king, an emperor, or something similarly important.

Still lying on the ground, oblivious to the war being waged around us, the man gaped at the grass beneath him. Finally, he looked up and his gaze fell on me. I saw the fear and desperation in his eyes, and knew I'd guessed right. Clasping his hands together, he lowered his gaze, and rested his forehead on the grass.

"Please," he murmured, so quietly that I almost couldn't hear him. "Please, please," he continued, repeating the word over and over.

But I knew. I understood why.

It wasn't long before the attacking robots had been defeated, and I looked up to see the Black, Yellow and Blue Rangers teleporting down towards me. Materialising nearby, Zac walked over to the three scouts. Pointing to the sky, he held out his hand. The scientist lowered his head, reached into his robes and handed over the forcefield control without another word, which the Black Ranger instantly shattered in his hand. Above us, the forcefield began to crack and fade. A few seconds later, we felt rain falling on us again, and teleport streaks appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching. The other Rangers were on their way.

But the city was safe. The four of us had done it.

"Is this their leader?" Trini asked, pointing to the man who was still repeating, "Please," over and over again.

I nodded. "Yeah, but it's okay. We guessed wrong. They're not invading."

"They're not?" Scott asked.

"No," I said, and turned to my brother. "They're _escaping._"

* * *

><p>I watched as Trini crossed back over to where Zac, Scott and I were standing by the tangled ruins of the robot I'd destroyed. Zac was calling the robot a trophy, and ignoring Scott's advice that it would <em>not<em> look good in our backyard. The advance scouts, soldiers and tank pilots who'd come through were huddled in a group behind their king. The portal was still open, but once the rest of the Rangers had arrived, the king stepped back through and ordered an immediate ceasefire. At the moment, he and the Rangers were engaged in deep conversation, while behind us, more and more police cars and ambulances were rolling up the hill.

"Teresa was right," Trini said once she reached us. "From what I heard, they come from a world ruined by industry and warfare. There was nothing left. Their people were starving and choking."

"So forced settlement on another planet was their only option," Scott said.

"It's the reason they came," Trini said, and turned to me. "The king sends his apologies," and I could hear the Yellow Ranger smiling beneath her visor. "Nobody's ever destroyed a member of their robotic corps before. The soldiers are impressed, and a little scared."

"So what do they do now?" Zac asked.

"There are plenty of habitable planets in the Milky Way," Trini said. "Right now, Zordon is offering them help to find an unsettled country, far away, where they can have a second chance at building a society. That's all they really wanted."

"I don't get it though," I said. "They knew we were here. Why didn't they just ask us for help in the first place?"

"It doesn't always happen like that," Trini replied. "It should, but sometimes, people are just scared. Some have already given up. Some don't want to drag anyone down with them, and some people think they deserve their fate. For them, maybe it was all the above? I can't say."

I thought of Brody Graves, and looked away.

"I need to go find someone," I said quickly. "Tell the others I'll be back to help with the clean-up soon. I just… I really need to go," and stepping away, I ran back into the city.

* * *

><p>The rain had eased as I stepped into the café. It was still pretty empty, but gazing around the interior, I soon saw who I was looking for. Brody was sitting in one of the booths by the entrance, staring out the window.<p>

I hung my coat up by the door. "I'm surprised to find you here," I said. "It's been a rough night."

He replied without looking. "Most of them are."

"I'm glad you're okay though."

"Sure you are."

Calling to the waitress and ordering a hot chocolate, I slid down into the booth opposite him. I hesitated for a second, then reached over and took his hand, forcing him to meet my gaze. "I met someone tonight," I said. "Someone who made me think of you. I think I finally realised what you were saying. So here's the deal," and I lowered my voice. "If you really, genuinely want me to leave, then I will. But personally, I think that'd be a waste of some excellent hot chocolate."

He shook his head, but I could see a hesitant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You're annoying, you know that?"

I waved my hand. "I've been called worse," I said. "So that's it. If you want to talk, I'm right here. If you don't, that's cool too, and we can just trade barbs and be grateful the world is still turning."

I looked out the window, but heard a sigh, and knew then that I wasn't going anywhere.

"It's been rough, lately," he said softly, as the waitress approached. "Just little things, you know, all hitting me at once, and everyone's just so busy, you know?" and he paused to indicate my mug of steaming chocolate. "Can I get one of these too?"

I had to fight to hide a smile, then sat back in the booth as Brody continued. "School stuff, particularly," he said. "Do you take geography with Mr Kaplan?"

I lowered my voice. "Just between the two of us?" I began. "I hate that class."

"I know! It's so dull! And what the hell is going on with his hair?"

We sat there talking until late. It was well after eleven before we left. I walked him all the way back to his house, wished him good night, and promised I'd see him again on Monday. He even asked if we could work on our art history assignments together, which I took as a huge step forward. And once he was home safe, I returned to my friends in the city.

I honestly think all he needed was the chance to just get all the pressure and stress off his chest. Because even if someone's in real trouble, they won't always tell you that they need you. The important thing, I think, is to find a way to let them know that you're there. Not everyone needs you to save the world for them. Sometimes, all they need is someone to sit with them in the wreckage and tell them they're not alone.

Sometimes, that makes all the difference in the world.

My name is Teresa. I'm the White Ranger.

And I'm here to help.

The End.


End file.
